Tom Brady wants Fernando Mendoza to learn this from Peyton Manning

Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady recently discussed how he wants rookie Fernando Mendoza to work on his development while veteran Kirk Cousins serves as the club’s starting quarterback for an undetermined amount of time. 

During the latest edition of the “Stick to Football” podcast, Brady expanded on how he wants Mendoza to follow in the footsteps of an old friend. 

Peyton Manning “superseded” expectations everyone had for him

As Sam Warren of The Athletic shared on Thursday, Brady discussed how impressed he was with how Hall of Famer Peyton Manning bounced back from a difficult rookie season roughly two decades ago.

“It was tremendous talent that he had, to be able to do that,” Brady said about Manning. “And he was very much like me: process-oriented, tough, disciplined, driven, accountable, and I’d say that path is harder than the path I took. My path was challenging in different ways. Peyton, if he failed, everyone saw it right away. And he had to take that on, and he superseded all those expectations because of his will and determination. And I love that about him.” 

The Indianapolis Colts made Manning the first overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft, and he then tossed 28 interceptions, the most ever for a rookie signal-caller. Additionally, he went 3-13 during his debut pro campaign.  

Of course, Manning went on to become arguably the greatest regular-season quarterback in history, a two-time Super Bowl champion and one of the most revered figures currently involved in the sport. It would be unfair for anybody to expect Mendoza to become Manning 2.0, but it’s also worth noting that Mendoza should probably have an easier start to his pro career. 

Tom Brady sends warning to Raiders fans about Fernando Mendoza

Multiple reports have indicated that Brady and first-year head coach Klint Kubiak feel that Mendoza needs to spend at least a portion of his rookie season serving as Cousins’ backup. Meanwhile, Brady noted during the podcast that Raiders fans need to be realistic about what Mendoza is at this stage of his career. 

“Now you’re just a member of the team,” Brady said about the Raiders making Mendoza the first pick of this year’s draft. “Now you have to develop him. And I think most people, and probably a lot of fans, they think just because you get a player on the team, well, now he’s going to be great. No, there’s a lot of development that still needs to happen.”